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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23168656">A Simple Question</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treekianthia/pseuds/Nymph'>Nymph (Treekianthia)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Ficlet, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Years Later</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:33:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,687</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23168656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treekianthia/pseuds/Nymph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While Dimitri is sitting with his daughter in the castle garden, she asks him a rather simple question. He takes a moment to ponder it, remembering the reason he fell in love with Mercedes and how he came to realize he loved her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Mercedes von Martritz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Simple Question</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Papa, when did you realize you were in love with mama?”</p>
<p>Dimitri looked down at the little girl in his lap. She was staring up at him with bright blue eyes, filled with innocence and curiosity. Her blonde hair was pulled back into curled pigtails, while her cream colored dress and light purple cloak were covered in dirt and other stains from playing in the garden. The raggedy doll in her hand was just as dirty, and she pulled at its arms as she waited for Dimitri to answer. There was a large smile on her face.</p>
<p>“Now where is this coming from, Meliae?” Dimitri asked his daughter with a laugh. She was always asking him questions about odd things, but normally they were about the kingdom or why her two-year-old brother acted the way he did. It was rare for her to ask about her parents’ relationship.</p>
<p>It had been seven years since Dimitri and Mercedes had gotten married, with their two children being born two and five years after the wedding. They were a happy yet busy couple, always managing to make time for each other and their children despite it. Dimitri was most relaxed when he was with Mercedes, and they always exchanged “I love you”s and other words of affection when they could. The King knew that he had made the right choice in choosing his queen, and he never had any hint of regret. She was part of what had made him who he was today.</p>
<p>Hugging her doll, the little girl leaned up against her father. “You always tell her that you love her, but you couldn’t have always known that you love her,” she said. “I mean, I know I’ve always loved you, papa, but that’s because you’re my papa! You loving mama is different!”</p>
<p>Smiling, Dimitri patted the top of his daughter’s head. “You know, that’s a very good point,” he told the little girl. Though he had spent time with Mercedes in their academy days, he hadn’t always been in love with her. Things changed at some point, and now he couldn’t imagine life without her.</p>
<p>Wiggling in her father’s lap, Meliae continued to look up at him. “So, when did you?” she continued asking. Her blue eyes were filled with an eagerness that Dimitri knew very well. She didn’t want to wait long for an answer.</p>
<p>Thinking, Dimitri looked out at the garden. It was the winter season, but dozens of flowers still managed to bloom. They had all been planted as a gift for Mercedes, as Dimitri wanted her to have a place of beauty to enjoy even in the coldest weather. It was one of the many things he did to show that he loved her. He even had it tended by hand selected individuals that he knew he could trust.</p>
<p>
  <em>When did he realize he loved her?</em>
</p>
<p>To start, he needed to remember when things began to really change between them...</p>
<p>...it had been after the battle to reclaim Fhirdiad from the clutches of Cornelia. Mercedes had found Dimitri in the cathedral of Garreg Mach, wallowing in the sorrows of the war. He remembered how quiet it had been with the two of them, and how beautiful the moonlight pouring in had made the area. Even if the altar was in ruins, there was still a feeling of peacefulness that resonated throughout it. It was one of the few remaining things that felt that way during the war.</p>
<p>Despite the feelings of peace, Dimitri still called himself a monster. He had killed many people, and he was forgetting the faces of them and the family he had lost. Mercedes, however, said he was no such thing, and even after all he had done, he had come to change his ways and only killed for the sake of a better future. Those who had perished had all died for something they believed in, and that was the reason he continued to fight. He had something to believe in, and people to protect.</p>
<p>Mercedes was always so kind to him… He couldn’t remember a time where she had ever been cruel or unreasonable. Even as he stood there, berating himself and admitting his greatest fears to her, she only responded with kind words and an extended hand. She wanted to help him overcome everything he had gone through, saying it was okay if he forgot and that they could only live in the present. No matter what happened, she would still be there for him.</p>
<p>“I just want to be by your side. Is that so much to ask?”</p>
<p>Those words she said to him were the catalyst for the change. From then on, he always looked at her a bit differently, and made extra time to speak with her during the day. He did not realize it was love at first, however, and thought of it as nothing but returning the kindness she had shown him. Despite this, others around him began to catch on. They could tell he had fallen for her.</p>
<p>Dimitri remembered that Sylvain would try to tease him about his feelings, but Dimitri had always been oblivious and didn’t understand what Sylvain was alluding to. Ingrid always asked if Dimtiri wished to invite Mercedes whenever they were assigned activities around the monastery by their former professor, and Felix would even say “the boar prince does have human emotions after all”. Even Dedue would ask if he should retrieve Mercedes when Dimitri was feeling less than perfect emotionally, much to Dimitri’s confusion. He didn’t know what was going on.</p>
<p>...but then he finally realized how he felt.</p>
<p>It had been after the end of the war. Dimitri was to ascend the throne of the now united Kingdom of Fódlan, and those who had fought by his side were to adjust into new lives. Some were continuing to serve him, while others would be travelling to other regions to pursue passions elsewhere. Mercedes had been one of his companions who was going to be leaving Fhirdiad, as she saw herself becoming a cleric at Garreg Mach. At first, Dimitri agreed that was something that suited her, but his feelings did not stay that way.</p>
<p>The more he thought about it, the more the idea of Mercedes no longer being at his side brought him great sorrow. They had spent much of their time together during their academy days and the war, and being seperated from her was not something he wanted. He did not want to stop her from doing as she pleased, however, so at first he was hesitant to ask her to stay. Before she left, however, he asked to sit and sew with her. He wanted to be at her side at least one last time.</p>
<p>To his relief, Mercedes accepted his invitation, and the two sat enjoying each other’s company in his room. As he tried to work on a gift for her, she worked on embroidery for the cape he would wear as king. It was mostly quiet work, but the two would occasionally converse as they shared chamomile tea and treats. After many hours of work, the two finished, and it would soon be time to part if Dimitri did not speak up. He was torn between his own feelings and what she wanted with her life.</p>
<p>The pain his heart only grew the more he thought, and he knew he couldn’t let her leave. He loved her more than anything, and being so far away from each other would only cause him more pain. He did not think he would ever love anybody as much as he loved her, and letting her leave would be the same as losing her.</p>
<p>Before she could take her leave, Dimtri said he wanted to ask Mercedes one last thing. She looked at him with one of her sweet smiles and said she would always be happy to answer anything for him. They were friends after all, even if they were now going to be miles apart. Dimitri stood across from her, and with a shaking hand, took her hand in his. He looked deep into her eyes, which shone brightly like the moon had on that fateful night in the cathedral.</p>
<p>“Please, will you stay and be my queen?”</p>
<p>“Dimitri… I… Yes… I will...”</p>
<p>That had been years ago, and now Meliae sat on his lap all this time later waiting for her question to be answered. Her father had been pondering it for some time now, and she was beginning to grow restless. She placed her small hand on her father’s cheek.</p>
<p>“Papa! Are you going to tell me or not?” she asked him as she began to pout. Her hand was cold, and Dimitri took it off his cheek and held it in his own. He smiled at his daughter and pinched her cheek lightly.</p>
<p>“I realized I was in love with your mother when she was going to go somewhere far away, and I didn't want that to happen,” he told his daughter. “So I asked her to marry me instead.”</p>
<p>“And mama said yes?” Meliae continued to ask. Nodding, Dimitri ruffled the top of his daughter’s hair before giving her a big hug.</p>
<p>“Mhm, and a few years later we had you,” he said. “And a little bit after you turned three we had your brother. We’re now a big, happy family that loves each other very much, aren’t we?”</p>
<p>Meliae hugged her father in return and began to beam. Her blue eyes were now filled with happiness and love. “Yep! I love you and mama and Katreus lots and lots!” she cheered. Laughing, Dimitri placed a kiss on his daughter’s forehead.</p>
<p>“Now, do you have any other questions you want to ask me?” he asked his little girl. Scrunching her face up to think, his daughter pondered the question. A minute later, she began to smile again and nodded her head.</p>
<p>“Mhm! I do!” she told her father. “Why do you only have one eye?”</p>
<p>“That’s… A question we’ll save for another time.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't have much to say about this ficlet other than I wanted to write more Mitri/Mercie content. Writing quick little fics like this is nice, but I really want to get back into writing longer fics one of these days. Until then, I'll just keep writing the smaller ones.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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